Belt and Road Initiative guides SMEs abroad

Ren Xinglei, senior vice-chairman of China Association for Small & Medium Commercial Enterprises, made a speech at the launch ceremony of Porter Novelli China Desk in Beijing on May 10, 2017.

More small and medium-sized enterprises are trying to grasp opportunities related to the Belt and Road Initiative, according to China Association for Small & Medium Commercial Enterprises (CASME) and public relations agency Porter Novelli.

"CASME used to be a grassroots association seldom participating in international activities. However, since the first half of last year, especially since May this year when the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held, more associations like CASME in countries such as United States, Russia and Singapore have contacted us for cooperation," said Ren Xinglei, senior vice-chairman of CASME, in Beijing Thursday.

"Founders of some Japanese companies want to sell their business to Chinese investors as their offspring are not willing to manage and they want us to help them," Ren added, sharing an example.

"On the other side, 60 percent of 150 companies we surveyed in China's Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta reported that they were willing to access overseas markets, among which, some medium-sized companies said they would like to set up plants or build industrial parks," he said.

In addition to SME's own willingness, Belt and Road Initiative, has not only generated more overseas opportunities for State-owned companies and large private companies, but also created such opportunities for SMEs as they are the major suppliers to large companies or get outsourced work.

However, Shen Guofang, former Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, said that "due to lack of convenient and smooth information channel, many Chinese companies do not know what investment recipient countries need and likewise, investment recipient countries do not know what Chinese companies can provide."

Brad Macafee, chief executive officer of Porter Novelli, made a speech at the launch ceremony of Porter Novelli China Desk in Beijing on May 10, 2017.

Brad Macafee, chief executive officer of Porter Novelli, which has been in China for 13-plus years helping multinational companies do business in the country, said that his company has made it a strategy to help Chinese companies access and expand in foreign markets due to the Belt and Road Initiative.